Maharaja is derived from the sanskrit words mahat, — “great” and rajan — “king”. Much like its namesake, this imperial IPA is regal, intense and mighty. With hops and malts as his servants, he rules both with a heavy hand. The Maharaja flaunts his authority over a deranged amount of hops: tangy, vibrant and pungent along with an insane amount of malted barley — fashioning a dark amber hue and exquisite malt essence.

Beer Advocate: A- (4.2)

Rate Beer: 100 (3.95)

Timperial’s Notes:

Background.

The Maharaja is no. 3 on ratebeer.com‘s top 50 summer seasonals for a reason… it’s an amazing IIPA. As part of Avery’s Dictator’s Series, along with The Kaiser (Imperial Oktoberfest) and The Czar (Russian Imperial Stout), this beer demands respect and admiration, and you’d be silly not to dole it out. Before I moved out west, this was my number 1 favorite impy IPA. I haven’t had it in about a year and a half so I’m really excited to sit down with it tonight.

Appearance.

This stately beverage pours into my pint glass with a pretty regal, cream-colored head that, as it slowly recedes, proves to be very sticky. The edges of the lofty crown pull down, leaving a rocky dollop of bubbles on the center of the surface. The lacing is so thick, I think I could write “Tim was here” on the inside of my glass. The liquid itself glows with an opulent radiance, much brighter than I expected, taking into account the high lovibond crystal used in the mash. I’d say there is a bit of an orange hue to the amber-colored fluid.

I could be wrong, but my guess is that this beer was filtered after fermentation and then dry-hopped in the bright tank. The beer is not cloudy, per say, but there is a lot of floaters in there. It actually looks slightly similar to the Green Flash IPA that I most recently reviewed. It’s less cloudy but still noticeably permeated with minuscule bits of hop love. Suspended hop chunks pretty much exude sex in every way if you ask me. Uhh…in beer that is.

Odor.

Well, the odor is a perfect fucking 10. It’s enough to make me just shout “OH MY GOD!” I’m weak in the knees. I’ve already dropped in praise of the righteous Maharaja, without a single sip drank. I’ve just been body slammed from the height of, I dunno, Mars, with a pure hop-tipped warhead, while simultaneously being lifted from the soil by the most maliciously rising volcanic peak of molten malt madness. I’ve been pressed so intensely hard together at the impact that I’ve formed into diamond. In fact, a five diamond score of perfection.

The hops are being poured from a dump-truck, directly into my nostrils. The collaboration of hops used seem to meld into a cocktail of your most notable lupulin attributes. Pine, herbal, woody, floral, citrus…you name it, it’s there. Most notably, the caramel maltiness. This is the biggest hop bomb that I can think of that is righteously balanced with malt. Just plain silly!

Mouthfeel.

The MF (don’t hate) is, yet again, obnoxiously dead-balls accurate. It’s syrupy, slick, sweet, cloying. The body is stout like Schwarzenegger at his prime. It dominates my moth like Conan the Barbarian, or wait…sorry your highness, like the great dictator Maharaja. So far, this is the best rated IPA I’ve ever reviewed.

Flavor.

The flavor is layered like my famous dip. Each sip is like being wiped about beneath the unrelenting seas at high tide, but here, fear shifts to joy as a slight lack of oxygen mingles with a sudden realization of the underwater beauty. It’s an (only slightly) unnatural high. Semantics…

Initially, there is a bitter firecracker explosion on the back of tongue, and then, the sound catches up with a mighty **CRACK** of sweet, caramely maltiness. The inspirational soundtrack floats on in full orchestration when the finish brings boozed fruit and baked deserts. When fully blended, the celebration is majestic, befitting of a king. The perfection continues.

Might I add, in plain English, that this beer is the epitome of balance, as in, pushing extremes of both bitter hops and sweet malts in equal parts. I’m awestruck.

I don’t find the hops to be too bitter, I don’t find the sweetness too overwhelming, I don’t find the heat to be overbearing. I’m in a good mood, yes, but I’m seriously searching for flaws, in a devil’s advocate sort of way, and I’ve got nothing.

Aftertaste.

I’m a discriminating IPA drinker. I realize that. My best friend in the world, DSR, fellow BBB (beerblotter brethren), fellow homebrewer, fellow IPA lover, finds great comfort in bitterness. A dry finish is a part of that game, and I know that many PNW beer drinkers play on that field, but it’s not my bag. I like hop FLAVOR and minimal bitterness. This beer’s aftertaste is precisely where I tread. I’m happy to continue to tread there, that is, until there is no more sips to take.

Summary.

I was recently asked, by someone in the beer community whom I respect for his knowledge, what, other than the obvious ones (Pliny, Double Jack, Wisdom Seeker, etc.) was amongst my favorite IPAs/Double IPAs. I responded with Avery Maharaja. I paused, as I often do after stating such a revealing answer, for the resulting reaction. I was greeted with apathy. Indifference. He was unimpressed. I was embarrassed. Maybe too much time had passed since I had last tried it. Had it changed? Had my respect for it need be diminished due to the current market of boldness? Tonight, my stance has been solidified with complete and utter surety. Avery Brewing has always been up there for me when it comes to the best breweries in the world, and tonight is just one more weight-bearing brick in the mortar for the dynasty that Adam Avery had born. Respect!